Global markets roundup, 20 May

AstraZeneca was the day’s biggest faller, down 11.1% after rejecting Pfizer’s final takeover offer of £69bn.

In Europe, the Paris CAC 40 rose 13 points to 4,469, and the German Xetra Dax added 30 points to 9,659.

In the US on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.1% to 16,511, the S&P 500 added 0.4% to 1,885, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9% higher at 4,125.

Overnight in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% to 14,075 and the broader Topix added 0.3% to 1,153. And in China, the Shanghai Composite was 0.2% higher at 2,008, and the CSI 300 was unchanged at 2,115.

Brent spot was trading at $109.58 early today, and in New York, crude oil was at $102.76. Spot gold was trading at $1,290 an ounce, silver was at $19.24 and platinum was at $1,463.

And today, Marks & Spencer announced a fall in profits for the third year in a row. Underlying annual profit fell by 3.9% to £623m in the year to 29 March. Sales rose by 2.7% to £10.3bn. Sales of food rose by 1.7% on a like-for-like basis, but general merchandise sales fell by 1.4%.